It was dead of night, and a heavy silence hung in the air. Vikas and Arya were driving through a dense forest path. Vikas was behind the wheel, but internally, he was a wreck; his hands trembled uncontrollably against the steering. Beside him, Arya sat in a stony, terrified silence. A single, haunting fear gripped them both: Ivan would kill his own father first, and then, one by one, he would hunt them down. They were certain that Ivan wouldn't just kill them—he would make them suffer.
This terror had stripped them of any sense of peace. Even within the walls of their own homes, they couldn't sit still or find rest. It felt as if Ivan was always there, standing in the shadows, watching. But the worst part was the sleep—or the lack of it. For weeks, they hadn't slept a wink. Every time they closed their eyes, Ivan's gruesome face would appear in their nightmares, strangling them or murdering them in horrific ways.
Driven to the brink of madness, they were headed to see a dark sorcerer known as 'Aghori Bhadrakal.' They hadn't breathed a word of this to Ishan.
They arrived at the sorcerer's dwelling—a dilapidated ruin made of stone and rotting wood. It looked more like a tomb than a house. Human skulls hung from the ceiling, and the walls were smeared with cryptic symbols painted in what looked like dried blood. A single flickering torch cast long, dancing shadows across the room.
There, Vikas confessed the ten-year-old secret. He recounted how Ishan had brutally murdered a young boy a decade ago while he and Arya watched from the sidelines. "Baba," Vikas pleaded, "Ivan was only eight when his father killed that boy. Now he is eighteen, and he looks exactly like the boy who died. He has returned, Baba! He haunts our dreams; he kills us every night. Please, save us!"
Aghori Bhadrakal closed his eyes. After a tense silence, he spoke in a low, guttural voice, "That boy, Ivan... his body is possessed not by one, but by three spirits. One is the boy Ishan killed, but the other two... they are something else entirely." He looked at them with piercing eyes. "If you want to live, you must sacrifice three innocent souls. Without blood, these spirits will never let you go. Go now, and prepare the victims."
Panic-stricken, they rushed to Vikas's house and summoned Ishan. When Ishan arrived, Vikas blurted out everything—the sorcerer, the three spirits, and the demand for sacrifice.
"Ishan," Vikas asked, his voice shaking, "did you kill anyone else back then? The sorcerer says there are three souls inside Ivan!"
Ishan's face turned livid. Rage exploded within him as he began hurling abuses at them. "You idiots! Have you lost your minds?" he roared. "You've stabbed me in the back! Why did you tell that old warlock my secret? Now he will blackmail us for the rest of our lives. He'll drain us of our money and keep us under his thumb. You've put a noose around my neck!"
Ishan was so consumed by fury that he threatened to kill them himself. "You cowards! You sold my secret just to save your own skins? I should kill you right here! Ivan can wait; this sorcerer will make our lives a living hell first!"
Vikas, trembling but desperate, stepped closer to Ishan. "Ishan, calm down! Listen to me. There was no other way. We are terrified, man! This is the only way to end this nightmare. Only he can protect us from Ivan."
Arya added, "He's right, Ishan. We haven't slept in weeks. Those nightmares are real. If we don't give the sacrifice, Ivan will tear us apart piece by piece. Please... if we want to live, we have to do this."
Ishan fell silent. His breathing slowed as the cold reality set in. He realized there was no escaping Ivan's shadow. Finally, he nodded.
The next day, the three of them returned to the ruins. Even Ishan felt his soul shiver at the sight of the hanging skulls.
Vikas: "Baba, we are here. This is Ishan. Tell us, what must we do to save our lives?"
The Sorcerer (eyeing Ishan): "So, you've finally come. If life is precious to you, bring three innocent people here. Their blood must be spilled to appease the spirits. I will begin the ritual, and you must lead them into the circle."
Ishan (whispering): "But Baba, how? How do we bring them here?"
The Sorcerer: "That is for you to decide. Lure them, trick them—do whatever you must. But remember, if even one escapes, those spirits will feast on your flesh. Now go! Fulfill your task!"
They walked out of the ruins in chilling silence. A single thought consumed their minds: How were they going to trap three innocent people?